


here i go again

by goldentimes (thaitea)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Canon-Typical Behavior, Canon-Typical Violence, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, F/M, Gen, Ghosts, Kinda, M/M, Multi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Somehow, They love each other, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, fuck you they're family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 21:35:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17926778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thaitea/pseuds/goldentimes
Summary: Luther has always tried his best.(or: Luther gets sent back in time and tries to piece his family back together)





	here i go again

**Author's Note:**

> luther gets a lot of hate but he's just as scarred as the other kids 
> 
> i wrote this because i'm hard core procrastinating and i hate myself :)

Luther decided to kill Vanya the moment she slit Allison's throat. 

He loves Vanya in his own way. She doesn't appear much in his memories of the halcyon days - Luther had been too preoccupied with keeping the team together and dancing with Allison and making Father happy (if he ever was) to talk much to her.

Then she'd left, the final blow that splintered their little family apart, and published a book exposing all of their flaws and deepest insecurities. He'd been left alone in a too-big mansion with a robot and a talking monkey, and he used to think it was worth it. Worth it because he got to spend time with the man who raised them, who took care of them, who loved them in his own way. None of the others had ever sat with Reginald Hargreeves underneath his favorite tree, after all.  

Then Vanya slit Allison's throat and nearly killed her. Allison, who could bend minds to her will with a whisper, would never speak again. Vanya killed Pogo and Grace, too, and eventually she killed them all. She couldn't control her powers, not really, and she was more dangerous than any of them. Luther was fucking terrified.

He couldn't bring himself to kill her, though. Luther locked her up instead - just to buy some time, he swears - and the next time he saw her, she was bringing about the apocalypse. 

But then the auditorium ceiling comes crumbling down and the others are still reaching towards the beam of light that used to be Vanya and Five grabs him and - 

* * *

 Luther thinks he's the only one who truly loved Reginald Hargreeves. It wasn't until the very end that he realized how the man had  _ruined_ them all, but Luther still loved him. Sir had taken them in and clothed them and fed them and taught them how to control their powers. He saved Luther's life in more ways than one. 

Luther has always done his best to please Reginald Hargreeves. Begging for a scrap of kindness or a word of praise, willing to do whatever was necessary to earn hard-won approval. He stayed until Reginald couldn't bear to look at him any longer, and even then, Luther had obeyed. 

Reginald Hargreeves still sent him to the fucking moon, though. 

* * *

 

 

\- a moment of weightlessness - 

\- he can see  _everything,_ is this how Five feels when he jumps - 

\- a flash of moonlight, the glitter of burning stars against a dark, dark sky - 

 

 

* * *

 

and suddenly Luther is back at the Academy.

He stares up at Ben's statue. It's fully intact and gleams obnoxiously in the midday sun.

"Shit," Five says, dusting his blazer off as he picks himself up.

"I'm gonna throw up," Luther croaks. If he gets vomit on Ben's statue, he'll never forgive himself.

"Time travel side effects," Five waves dismissively, "Not as important as the fact that I'm  _still thirteen._ " He looks down despairingly at his skinny knees.

Luther squints. "And?"  
  
Five rolls his eyes. Luther's almost fond of the familiar condescending action. Almost. "Look at yourself, Luther. You're in your early twenties, with a human body that fits the year. Meanwhile, I'm still stuck in my thirteen-year-old form. Maybe I always will be." He huffs.

Huh. "At least you won't have to go through puberty again," Luther offers. Five kicks him in the shin. Hard. 

"You're what, 24? We're in 2013, then. Diego's a vigilante, Allison's getting her first Oscar, Klaus is still on the streets, Ben's dead, and Vanya still thinks she has no powers. You're still with Dad, and I'm fucking around somewhere killing people."

"Yeah."

"We should make a plan and gather the family together."

"Yeah."

There's a moment of silence that stretches just a little too long to be comfortable. 

"I need a drink." 

 

 

(Luther's always known he's weak. He knows the real way the number system works. He's One because he's the weakest, and Vanya's Seven because she could kill the nannies just because she didn't like oatmeal. Luther has spent his entire life trying to make up for that. To be good enough for Reginald Hargreeves. Strong enough. Strong enough to lift a car and to hold a family together through sheer willpower.

In 2013, their family is still broken. But this time, they can include Vanya and teach her how to control her powers. This time, they can grill Dad about why he did what he did. This time, Luther won't have to spend years slowly going insane 238,900 miles away. 

Their family's a mess, though, and Luther needs to get really fucking drunk before he can muster the courage to talk to them.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
